Wrench.



PATENTED ocT. 22. 1907. I

v No, 868,954.

W. H. WHITTEMOBIE.

WRENGH.

, APPLICATION FILED 001215, 1904.

INVENTOR: j E fh/fflhamj-Lwhltfiamura,

BY I J ATT NEY WITNESSES: 3%7fl UNTTE STATES WILLIAM H. WHI'lTEMORE, OF EAST ORANGE,

NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO STRIEBY & FOOTE (10., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907.

Application filed October 15,1904. Serial No. 228,498.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WHITTEMonE, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention relates to wrenches, more especially known to the trade as pipe-wrenches, of that class to be employed with round and irregular objects, such as pipes, rods, nuts, and other bodies; and one of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a wrench having a quickly acting and automatic or self-adjusting gripping jaw for positively gripping pipes, rods, or other bodies of varying sizes and diameters, from the smallest size up to the larger sizes.

The invention has for its further object to provide a novel and peculiarly constructed gripping jaw in connection with other parts or members of a wrench whereby the gripping power is applied with a maximum efliciency without danger of'slip and of abrading the surface of the article grasped.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.

The invention consists primarily in the novel wrench hereinafter set forth; and, furthermore, this invention consists in a wrench embodying certain novel features and details of construction and arrangements of parts, all of which will be fully described in the accompanying specification and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claim which are appended to and form an essential part of this specification.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of the forward or gripping end-portion of a wrench embodying the principles of my present invention, showing a fixed jaw and a pivoted jaw in engagement with a pipe of a very small size. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same parts showing the jaws of the Wrench in engagement with a pipe of a larger size.- Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical. section, taken on line 33 in said Fig. 1 of the drawings, looking in the direction of the arrow to. I

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the said drawings, the reference character I indicates the complete wrench or tool and l 2 designates the body thereof provided with a handle or stock 3, which, in the drawings, is represented as being broken away, but which may be of any suitable length or shape, as will be clearly evident. At its forward end the said body 2 is provided with a fixed jaw 4, of any suitable configuration, preferably that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the said jaw being provided with the toothed or serrated engaging face 5, preferably of the concave curvature herein shown' but, it will be understood, however, that this face 5 may be of any other suitable shape, and in some instances the said face may be left smooth, the teeth or serrations being omitted from said face. The said body 2 is provided, also, with a hole or bearing 6 in which is free to rotate, or to oscillate, a pintle 7 formed with shoulders 8 and the slightly reduced receiving ends 9, upon each of which is arranged and secured by means of the rivet-heads 10, or other suitable securing means, the movable and self-adjusting gripping jaws 11. t

From an inspection of Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will be clearly seen, that each jaw 11 has a toothed or serrated gripping surface 12, the outer marginal edges bounding the said surface being each part of an increased spiral starting at a point near the pivotal support of the jaw and increasing spirally and tenni nating at some other point farthest away from the said pivotal support of the jaw 11. The said jaw 11 being securely fixed upon the receiving ends 9 and against the shoulders 8 of the pintle 7, the said jaws 11 are practically eccentrically pivoted upon the opposite sides of the body 2, and the pintle 7 being loosely and freely rotatable in said hole or bearing 6, a frictionless, pivoted and eccentrically rotatable gripping jaw, having a spirally formed gripping surface, is the result.

Referring new again to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will be seen, that the previously mentioned toothed or serrated engaging face 5 is of a curvature having its center in the central axis of the said pintle 7, so as to be concentric therewith. The result of this will be, that no matter what the position of the spirally formed gripping surface 12, the distance on an imaginary line from the point of the beginning of the serrated face 5 directly across to a point upon the surface 12 will be less than the distance taken on a line parallel to said imaginary line and diametrically across the center of the pipe or other object grasped between the said jaws. On account of this fact and the said spirally formed gripping surface of the gripping jaw or jaws 11, the tool will automatically adjust itself to any sized pipe or red within the limits of the length of the spiral or helix, the pipe or article being positively grasped and held against slip, and the ever-varying distances between the gripping surface of said fixed jaw 4 and 11 the gripping surface 12 of the rotatable jaw or jaws 11, thus being suitable for pipes and rods of the smallest diameter, and being applicable also to pipes and rods of larger diameters, as Will be clearly understood and as shown in the accompanying drawings of the wrench.

The construction of wrench being simple, a cheap and effective tool is provided; and, moreover, a wrench is produced in which there are no parts to get out of order.

I claim 1. The herein described wrench comprising a main body provided with a fixed gripping jaw extending laterally from one of the longitudinal edges of said body, said jaw having a concaved gripping surface, said body being pro vided with a pivot-portion having a laterally extending hole located near said longitudinal edge of the body, the coneaved gripping surface of said fixed jaw being concentric with the central axis of said hole, a pintle rotatable in said hole, said pintle having its end-portions extending on opposite sides of said main body, and a grip ping jaw eccentrically arranged upon each end-portion of the pintle, each jaw having a spirally formed gripping edge, so as to bring the various portions of said gripping edges farther away or closer to the concaved gripping edge of the fixed jaw, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The herein described wrench comprising a main body provided with a fixed gripping jaw extending laterally from one of the longitudinal edges of said body, said jaw having a concaved gripping surface, said body being provided with a piv0tportion having a laterally extending hole located near said longitudinal edge of the body, the concaved gripping surface of said fixed jaw being concentric with the central axis of said hole, a pintle rota table in said hole, said pintle being provided with reduced end-portions forming annular shoulders with the main body-portion of said pintle and said endportions of the pintle extending on opposite sides of said main body, and a gripping jaw eccentrically arranged upon each reduced endportion of the pintle, each jaw extending up the side of said main body and having a gripping surface the marginal edge of which is part of an increased spiral. substan tially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of October, 1904.

WILLIAM H. WI'IITTEMORE.

Witnesses:

FREDK. C. Fmnx'rznn, Gno. D. RICHARDS. 

